STOP THE INVASION OF BUSES GRAND TOURISM ON THE PUBLIC ROAD 163 AMALFI COAST

In the last years we have assisted at the constant escalation of the flow of tourism on Amalfi Coast. The historical road 163, that connects the towns of Amalfi Coast, from Vietri sul Mare to Positano – considered among the ten most beautiful roads in the world – badly supports such an amount of traffic in both directions.

Particularly penalizing is the increase of arrivals by Grand Tourism Buses. In the high season period, between March and October, is daily recorded the presence of several hundreds of this kind of vehicule. They are the main cause of the heavy obstruction of the Public Road 163 Amalfi Coast.

The security of residents and visiting citizens is continuously compromised by this traffic. Every day along more than 40 km of curves and turns, the flow of many touristic buses of huge dimension transit, without planning, that in determined points of the route, makes impossible circulation, even for pedestrians. Allways more frequent are problems of public order related to the massive presence of groups travelling by bus. The only emergency exit remains the Public Road 163. It is impossible to create the right circumstances to guarantee first aid in case of accident or simply guarantee entrance to school or office at a fixed time. It is necessary to remember the many chronicles related to lives that have been lost by some bus in transit or by conditions of danger caused by them. A situation that is growing worse every day and has already seriously compromised the quality of life on the Amalfi Coast. The historical road 163 is characterized, apart from the striking sights on the magnificent panorama of the coast, by an extreme fragility due to its particular conformation. On the basis of this peculiarity must be preserved.

The Town center of the Amalfi coast are unfit to container such a demographical impact, allready at the limit of sustainibility. Today the practicability of the Public Road 163 is badly regulated by the ordinance 29/2013 of ANAS, the State holding company of the road. It is forbidden for the buses that measure more than m.10,36 in length to transit in both directions. At Easter and on Bank holidays they must not exede m.8. ‘’Eccept for those buses that are already present in exit from Amalfi Coast in direction Positano – Vietri sul mare, in possession of a derogation granted from the town hall that has also released the transport license. This concernes buses,physical or legal persons resident in the town of Amalfi Coast’’.

These derogations, in the years, have grown in number out of control. Therefore, the promoters of this initiative ask to:

To put an end to the evidenced criticism that integrate the terms to configurate the violation of the current normative in matters of security and civil protection;

To impose a ‘’Coast Measure’’ to all the means of transport in transit along the Amalfi Coast, disposing m.8 of length for buses, and m.8 for trucks (max 100 q.li) as well as fixing arrivals through a plan that prevides a closed number of authorizations. We ask that this criterion be implemented by the beginning of the Tourist Season 2020;

To stop the exercise of T.P.L (unfixed local transport ) authorized by the Region and the Province to those societies that do not respect the ANAS qualifications;

To adopte a Territorial Limited Traffic Area (ZTL) along the whole Amalfi Coast from Vietri sul mare to Positano, equipped with suitable videosurveillance to control the entire area and a Single Portal with High Technological System for the control of gates (Positano, Agerola, Valico di Chiunzi, Vietri sul mare) updated in real time with news on parking availability and traffic conditions. Identify transshipment areas for means of transport unfit to travel on the coast to those that are suitable and respect the permitted length.

This area – UNESCO Human Patrimony – needs a kind of tourism adapted to the respect of the places and their particular morphology; that is not meant to be stressed but to be loved and protected.